


The difference

by Ruddcatha



Series: Ruddcatha's Inuyasha One Shots [8]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst, Confessions, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruddcatha/pseuds/Ruddcatha
Summary: This started out as a thought of what was the big difference between Inuyasha's relationship with Kikyo and his relationship with Kagome.  Why did Inuyasha have one reaction with Kikyo and another with Kagome when the same type of event occurred.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome & InuYasha, Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Series: Ruddcatha's Inuyasha One Shots [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081619
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	The difference

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. I am just borrowing them for this story.

A soft breeze danced through the forest, carrying leaves and flower petals in its journey. A tall silver haired man lifted his face into the breeze, his eyes closed, long hair gently moving in the winds dance, smelling the scents of the waking spring. If one were close enough to him, they would have seen a subtle flare of his nostrils as he took in the scent of the lingering cherry blossoms and the smell of grass as it passed him, hiding the lingering scent of blood on his form. A subtle shift in the scent, a hint of salt at the edge of the breeze caught his attention, and he let out a soft grunt. Amber colored eyes slowly opened as his ears, glinting silver atop his head, twitched as he sought out the source of the salt, listening for any sounds that seemed out of place in the tranquility of the forest. 

‘ _There_ ’

His eyes opened fully as he shifted his body towards a soft noise that caught his attention. His ears, usually raised to be alerted to sounds around him, folded down to his head as he recognized the sound… her sobs. Inuyasha let out a soft whine as he was drawn to the sound, a pain near his heart slowing his movements. He paused, looking down at his chest at the small hole in his fire rat robe with the fading presence of blood. He knew why she was crying, he had anticipated this reaction, no matter what he said to her. This was why he had stayed in the forest, he knew her, knew how she would feel, and knew she would need him. Even though she knew he would heal quickly, the wound on his skin was almost gone, a fading red mark blending into the scar over his heart. Knowing she needed to be alone, but drawn to protect her, he slowly followed the sound of her cries, staying out of her range, leaping into a tree to watch her when she came into view.

‘ _Kagome’_

Inuyasha looked down at her form, collapsed onto the floor of the forest, her dark green skirt torn, its shade almost blending in with the moss on the ground she sat on. Her white shirt with its green collar was stained. He frowned as his sharp eyes caught a shade that he could not stand to see on her, the rust brown of dried blood. He searched his memory, frantic, hoping it was his blood at the bottom of her shirt. He swallowed as the girl before him shifted, curling into herself to hide her tears, causing her shirt to lift.

‘ _shit_ ’

Not his. Why hadn’t she said anything? Why hadn’t he realized she was injured? His eyes closed, shutting out the figure of the small dark-haired girl curled into a ball in front of him as he remembered. He had not been able to make out any smells at the last battlefield over the smell of the charred Yokai… and his own blood from the arrow that had to be removed from his heart.

Why was it always his heart?

His eyes snapped open as a word broke through Kagome’s sobs… “Inu… Inuyasha.” His entire being focused on her, waiting for his cue to approach her, to remind her that he was alright, that everything was alright. That they were alright.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The fight had not gone well. The dream demon had caught them just as they were waking up. Inuyasha had sensed it as it approached the camp, but it was on them before he could react. They had managed to kill it, largely thanks to Shippo and Kirara, their fire being able to damage the demon where his sword could not. In his focus on the demon, Inuyasha did not realize that one of the most important… hell the most important if he was being honest…. Members of the group was not in the encampment when it appeared… Kagome. As he faced off against the demon, taking in its shadowy form, panic started in his mind as he realized… he could not smell her! The scent that was uniquely Kagome, vanilla mixed with roses and strawberries, was gone, there was no trace of it in the area, not even her lingering scent. His eyes, normally bright amber, began to shift into pink as red slowly crept into his eyes in his panic. As his eyes changed, his senses heightened. Keeping his eyes on the demon, snarling as he watched it, he frantically sought out her scent, any trace of her. 

The muffled sound of a soft step drew his focus, taking his eyes off the demon for what would become a dangerous second. Inuyasha’s eyes were involuntarily drawn to Kagome, his enhanced vision looking for any injuries, any signs that she had been in danger. His growls turned into a snarl as he reached her eyes, her liquid chocolate eyes were dulled, looking back at him with hatred rather than the joy he associated with her. In that moment, the demon lunged at him, claws out, the sharp talons glinting through the smoke of its body. Inuyasha reacted instinctively, slashing out with his tessaiga… to watch it go right through the smoke, the demon’s body immune to physical attacks. Inuyasha, in a state between hanyou and yokai, knew that he could not use his wind scar, not this close to his pack, or he would risk damaging his friends.

Before he could take another step, a… damnit…. Familiar pain went through him as an arrow struck him on the left side, just above his heart, driving him back into a tree. It was always a fucking tree. He could not get struck in a meadow, no it was always a fucking tree. Through the pain he saw Kagome, her bow in hand as she reached for another arrow, her dulled eyes never leaving his form. Their eyes met as she knocked a second arrow. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shippo launch a stream of blue fire, catching the demon and trapping it. Kirara let out a flame of her own, helping the fox demon ensnare the form, the fire and pain forcing it to stay corporeal, allowing Miroku to vanquish it with a sutra. Kagome’s eyes never changed as she slowly aimed the bow, this arrow taking on a pink hue as it was drawn, aiming at the figure in silver and red.

“Kagome-sama” a soft voice broke through the tension, Sango trying to reach her friend, to understand what was happening. “Kagome-sama” she called again, distracting the young girl. Inuyasha’s eyes never left Kagome, taking in the red longbow with its pink tipped arrow knocked and aimed at him, Kagome’s black hair shining, shimmering blue in the sunlight and pink from the arrow. The smell of his blood was blocking out most of the smells, but damnit he could not smell her. He saw her standing right in front of him, but she had no scent. He knew that this was not her. He knew he had been hit with a regular arrow, hell, Kagome was powerful enough that a purification arrow would destroy him, even though he was only a half demon. If she had really sought to hurt him, she would have fired one. But she had not.

Sango took a slow step towards Kagome, Inuyasha could see the slight tremor in Sango’s hands as she reached for Kagome. Just before Sango reached her, Kagome eased the draw of the bow, focusing on Sango as she approached. Sango brushed Kagome’s hand, and at the contact Kagome’s eyes came back to life. Inuyasha sighed in relief, his eyes closing from the pain as her scent flooded his senses. Kagome’s eyes looked around their camp site in confusion. He could tell the moment she saw him and realized what had happened… her scent took on a spicy scent that always made his nose itch like he was near curry from her fear. “oh kami… no no noNONO” she cried, her voice echoing in the forest. Her grip on the bow loosened, and the weapon dropped harmless from her hand, the arrows forgotten as Kagome suddenly turned and fled into the forest.

As she disappeared from view Inuyasha forced himself to move, pulling the arrow out and throwing it near her bow… as much as he wanted to destroy it he knew they couldn’t afford to waste the arrow. Sango called Kirara to her side, intending to go after Kagome, she was stopped by Inuyasha’s soft statement “No, let me.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As Inuyasha watched Kagome curled up in the forest he knew one thing. He did not blame her. He never blamed her. She should know that, after all they had been through together. How could he blame her? He knew, KNEW, she would never willingly shoot an arrow at him. Watching her, he was struck by how different she was from Kikyo. Each girl had aimed arrows at him, and both had attacked him, but for the first time Inuyasha realized there was a big, very key difference. 

He knew Kagome would never willingly attack him, that she would never betray him. Yet he had wholeheartedly believed Kikyo had attacked him of her own free will. Kikyo, the woman he thought he loved, the woman he still ran to whenever he felt her summons. The first person besides his mother to show him kindness, to see him as a person… who claimed to love him. 

‘ _Well, half of me_ ’ came the bitter thought from the back of his mind, his yokai still close after the attack and his fear when he could not sense Kagome. Despite convincing himself that he loved Kikyo, that he would do anything for her, at the first instance of trouble he had no trouble believing it was all a lie and that she had betrayed him. Thinking about her first attack on that fateful day, it had not been until he had been unsealed by Kagome and a comment from Kaede that he remembered he had not smelled Kikyo at all during the first attack. Hell, now he could not even remember what Kikyo had smelled like, she was now so closely tied to the scent of grave dirt. The second attack, when she had sealed him to the tree, he had no problem identifying her blood, but it did not cause the panic in him that the smell of Kagome’s did. 

Today though, the moment he could not smell Kagome nearby he was sent into a panic. Kagome’s scent drew him, calmed him. He found it almost ironic, technically this was the third time that Kagome had fired on him, the first time when she was under Tsubaki’s spell, the second when she was under the influence of the tainted shards, yet he never once thought she was firing willingly. He trusted her. Something he had never had with Kikyo. Kikyo had only ever wanted him to be human, she only accepted half of him. Kagome had made it clear to him, multiple times, that she liked him for who he was, she did not want to change him. Kagome was not Kikyo, she was Kagome, and she saw him for him… made him accept who he was, and opened him up to friendship, a family. She was the first person he truly trusted… and that was all the difference between his feelings.

Inuyasha was so caught up in his own revelation that he did not see Kagome stand up, wrapping her arms around her waist, her sniffles fading as she started to move towards where she believed the well was. He was snapped out of his own mind as her words froze his heart “I can’t do this; I can’t keep hurting him” she cried to herself “I should just leave the shards here and go home. They don’t… he doesn’t… need someone as weak as me, someone who can be made into a weapon against them… I can’t…”

Inuyasha felt his world shatter. The thought of never seeing Kagome again, never smelling her calming scent, never seeing her face flushed in anger, her eyes dancing with laughter, never again smelling the intoxicating scent she wore as he carried her, her cheeks flushed as she stepped away from him…his heart stopped. He… he knew then he could not lose her. Not her. He felt sadness for losing Kikyo, but he continued. If he lost Kagome… the sun would leave his life. He needed her. Her, not Kikyo, HIS Kagome. Now he knew what the difference was. His sudden fear making everything clear.

He did not realize that he had moved until he felt his arms wrap around Kagome’s retreating figure, his body curled around her, trying to hold onto her as much as he could. “Stay” he begged, shocked at the emotion at his own voice. Kagome’s eyes went wide in shock as she realized who was holding her and what he had just said. “you… you can’t leave me… it would break me.” She looked up at him, his face curled over her body, tears forming and threatening to fall from his eyes and whispered “Inuyasha?” His arms tightened around her, pulling her back even closer to her front, the tears now falling, their heat leaving a path down Kagome’s cheeks where they landed.

He opened his eyes, burning amber met liquid chocolate. “I love you” he whispered. Her breath caught in her throat. A whimper was torn from Inuyasha as Kagome pulled away from his embrace. She turned to face him, seeing his ears flattened as he continued to whimper, thinking she was rejecting him. She placed her left hand on his cheek, and he unconsciously nuzzled her hand as her right hand rose to gently stroke his ear. He held his breath, watching her expression, his heart in his throat as he realized what he had just admitted, both to her and to himself for the first time. Kagome rose on her tiptoes, touching her forehead to his, her eyes closing as she whispered…

“I love you too.”


End file.
